Govt’s Dussehra gift to bus owners, fares hiked by 8%

The Odisha government on Saturday offered a special Dussehra gift to the private bus owners by announcing a eight percent hike in the bus fare with immediate effect.

Making an announcement to this effect, Commerce and Transport minister Subrat Tarai said the increase ranged from four to seven paise per km, as per a notification of the Transport department.

“We had no alternative but to increase the fare due to constant increases in the price of diesel.” the minister told reporters here.

While the fares for ordinary and express buses were hiked by four paise per km, the tickets for deluxe buses would cost six paise more per km. For air-conditioned deluxe buses, there has been an increase of seven paise per km.

The minister, however, informed that the government did not consider private bus owners’demand for a mechanism that would automatically decide the rise and fall in bus fares depending on the fluctuations in the fuel prices.